Goulding, Tim, At His Feet, 1979, Oil on canvas 102 x 61 cm

The United Nations has designated 2021 the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables (IYFV), to raise awareness of the important of fruit and vegetables for everyone. To mark IYFV 2021, we have brought together a selection of artworks from the Arts Council Collection that feature fruit and/or vegetables. Artworks in this showcase  span the history of the collection, with earliest being  dated 1964 and the most recent being dated 2018.

Here, Tim Goulding, whose work is featured online showcase, tells us more about the featured artwork ‘At his feet’ and what it means to have his artwork as part of the Arts Council collection. Explore this and more from the Arts Council collection at instagram.com/artscouncilireland/ 

This painting was painted after a visit to an Indian ashram in 1972 3,000 westerners came to see the fourteen-year-old Guru Maharaji in the centre of New Delhi along with quarter of a million Indians.   

The painting was a devotional painting in the tradition of Bhakti Yoga. It depicted the Guru in black and white costume with wildflowers of West Cork and fruit at his feet. After realising that he himself was another product of cult indoctrination I cut out the figure in 1979  (the painting was 8 feet tall) and replaced the sandaled feet with black and white dots. 

It retained the title because the intent was devotional and was done in that spirit but now with a wider significance. It was painted from life and took six weeks to complete.  

Since 1969 I have transitioned through many approaches and series from hyper representational to completely abstract. Always true to the flow of life. Joan Miro had a sign on his studio wall inscribed with ‘no train stops here’. 

My last two series were ‘Patching the Void’ in 2015, a nod to the Wabi-Sabi aesthetic of Japan and the current series MUSIC which is due to be exhibited in 2021. This new work is a nod to early twentieth century art. It is as if Miro, Mondrian and Klee sat down for a cuppa. 

It is a huge privilege to be represented in the Arts Council collection.

—Tim Goulding

Since 1962, the Arts Council has been buying art from working artists. The Collection that evolved tells the story of modern and contemporary Irish visual art in a unique and fascinating way. Today the Collection continues to grow and is comprised of more than 1,200 artworks including sculpture, painting, performance, print, video, installation, and photography and other works, many of which are on display in public spaces all over Ireland for people to experience and enjoy first hand.

You can find out more at: www.artscouncil.emuseum.com.